El Sobrante, California.
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El Sobrante pioneer, John Oliver, purchased an existing business at this location in 1943, and re-opened it as a hardware store and gas station. As of 2013 it has been the longest continuously operating business in downtown El Sobrante. The business and the Oliver family have been closely connected with the development and history of our town.
(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
El Sobrante pioneer, John Oliver, purchased an existing business at this location in 1943, and re-opened it as a hardware store and gas station. As of 2013 it has been the longest continuously operating business in downtown El Sobrante. The business and the Oliver family have been closely connected with the development and history of our town.(Industry & Commerce) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
El Sobrante never attracted heavy industry. Probably the largest commercial enterprise in the town was the S.P. Skow & Sons Dairy, which supplied milk in Richmond and surrounding towns. For most of that time, the dairy was located on Clark Road, one-mile to the east, and operated for over half a century until 1955. Other smaller dairies also operated in the area, including the Lucksinger Dairy at Valley View and May Roads.
The Fry's Foods grocery chain began at this location in 1954 when Donald Fry acquired Ray's Market, owned by Ray Dickenson. Joined by his brother, Charles, in 1955, they grew that initial store into a 41-store chain which they sold in 1972. Charles gifted a portion of the proceeds to his three sons, enabling them to launch the first store of what would one day become the highly successful Fry's Electronics retail chain. 
In 1946, Charles Deabenderter constructed this building for his Chevrolet service and repair business. The building has remained an auto repair business since that time, although under different names and specializations. In 1974 the business was taken over by Lyle Miller Sr. and, as of 2014, his sons Lyle Jr. and David were continuing the family business, maintaining their dad's personal style as well as the historic character of the building.
This was the site of Pitt Arena, which featured equestrian events during the 1930s and 1940s .Owned by Babe and Claude Pitt, the arena showcased the horsemanship of the El Sobrante Horseman's Association, San Pablo Horseman's Association, Western Riders Club, and El Sobrante Junior Riders, among others. El Sobrante is still home to may horse lovers and owners. The Pitt Way private road keeps the Pitt Arena memory alive.
A branch of Mechanics Bank opened at this location in May 1955. Aside from its added faux roof façade and wall graphics, the building itself is a nice example of mid-century modern architecture, a recognized genre passionately preserved in many communities. In 1976, Mechanics Bank broke ground on a new facility two-hundred feet south where, as of 2014, it remains.
The origin of Methodism in this part of Delaware can be traced to the early 1770's when a Methodist Society was organized and began meeting in the home of Isaac Hersey, a prominent farmer and miller. Through the efforts of Hersey's step-son William McIntire and others, the land on which "Salem Meeting House" was constructed was obtained in 1807. The congregation was formally incorporated on October 16, 1807. Bishop Francis Asbury noted in his journal that he preached at this house of worship on several occasions. The church was remodeled several times during the 19th century, and was completely renovated in 1904. A Fellowship Hall was added in 1958, and the current sanctuary was built next to the hall in 1987. Members of this congregation were also instrumental in establishing Tyson's Chapel (Newark) and Christiana Methodist Episcopal Church in the early 19th century. Today, Salem United Methodist Church continues to provide for the spiritual needs of the community it serves.
Designed by architect and engineer S.T. Fuller, the Newark Passenger Railroad Station was built in 1877 at a cost of over $9,000.00 by the Philadelphia, Willimgton and Baltimore Railroad (P. W. & B) to replace an earlier frame building. An article published in the Railroad Gazette on April 26, 1878 offered an extensive report on the new station, summarizing it as "very commodious and neatly designed..." Arranged brickwork, intricate wood trim, a slate roof with decorative iron scrollwork, and other Victorian details characterized the exterior. The interior of the two-floor building featured separate waiting rooms for men and women, an office and baggage room, kitchen cellar, bedrooms and a sitting room. Telegraph service provided by Western Union, commuter trains to Wilmington and Philadelphia, and a small freight station located across the tracks were among the services offered. The station developed into a main center of activity due to its important location at the junctions of the P.W. & B's line with both the Delaware Railroad and the Pomroy Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. As a result, the city's expansion became concentrated towards its southern limits. In the 1970s, the station was closed and decommissioned by then-owner Amtrak; the City of Newark purchased the station in 1986. After securing grant monies, restoration work began in late summer 1988 on the deteriorating station; improvements including renovating first floor ticket booths and ladies and men's waiting rooms, modernizing and rehabilitating upstairs offices, and rebuilding exterior "piazza" canopies. Newark continues to support and maintain the station, now home to the Newark Historical Society, to ensure lasting knowledge of the history within the community and as a focal point along its multipurpose trail system. The Newark Passenger Station was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Formal education for African American children in Christiana began in the 1880s with the construction of a one-room schoolhouse. Many African American schools in existence at this time were marked by dilapidated facilities, a lack of running water, insufficient lighting, and poor heating sources. In an effort to remedy these and other deplorable school facility conditions, philanthropist P.S. du Pont dedicated a substantial portion of his wealth towards the renovation and rebuilding of African American schools during the 1920s. Christiana Public School #111-C was one of the first of over 80 schools to receive such attention. Designed by the New Jersey architectural fire Guilbert and Betelle, school construction began April 20, 1920 and was completed on September 6, 1920. The one-story, colonial revival-style building was a one-teacher school and featured a main classroom with three smaller rooms for the furnace, washrooms, and work and lunch room. During the 1920-1921 school year enrollment numbered twenty-eight students. Richard and Esther Neal, whose family was one of the first African American families in Christiana, donated the two acres upon which Public School #111-C was built. Such a donation of land was required of all African American communities looking to establish new schools during this time. After the school closed circa 1952, it was used often by the community to host parties, dances, and picnics, building upkeep and use was overseen by the Christiana Community of #111-C, formed by local citizens when the school closed. In the wake of a devastating fire on February 18 199, efforts to renovate the property were spearheaded by former student Lavenia (Neal) Cole. The Christiana #111-C Community Center Restoration Committee has since worked in earnest to restore the property.
The Iron Hill area was a community of African American farming and mining families. Constructed in 1923, Iron Hill School #112-C was one of over 80 schools built with funding from Pierre S. duPont, who sought to replace rundown public schools with modern facilities. Opened from 1923-1964, the school was in session from September through June and included grades 1-6. All instruction was conducted by a single teacher. The Delaware Academy of Science acquired the building in the late 1960s and used it to house a natural history museum for over 40 years. Because of diligent restoration efforts undertaken by the Academy, the building stands as one of only a few former duPont schools still architecturally intact.
The Iron Hill Museum is dedicated to the study of human and natural history of the Iron Hill Area. The Museum is currently engaged in a project to restore the Iron Hill School #112C and document the experiences of African-American students who attended the school between 1923 and 1965.
Erected 1881-1882 in term of County Judge Wm. Wahrmund and Commissioners J. Dechert, F. Kneese, J. Larson and J.P. Mosel. Architect was Alfred Giles.
The original section of this two-story limestone residence was constructed about 1850 by pioneer area settlers Albert and Doris Meinhardt. A widow in 1879, Doris sold the property to her former son-in-law G. Adolph Pfeil (d. 1926), a local cotton gin owner. He converted part of the living area for use as a blacksmith shop and later opened a soda water factory here. The house remained in the Pfeil family until 1939.
This two-story stone structure served as the fourth jail for Gillespie County, organized in 1848. It was constructed by the firm of C.F. Priess and Bro. in 1885. The ground floor housed a holding area and living quarters for the jailer. The second floor had two steelclad cells located against the east wall and maximum security cells in the center and at the back. The building was used as a county jail facility until 1939.
Johann Nicholas Mosel (1839-1904) was granted a 100’ x 200’ lot in Fredericksburg by the German Emigration Company in 1847. Here he built a rough limestone structure (now the northeast rooms), which might have served later as a Sunday house when he moved to an outlying farm (4 mi. W). German immigrant August William Jordan (d. 1898) bought the house in 1860. His sons sold it as a Sunday house to Henry Duecker (d. 1950), who added the frame additions in 1924.
This congregation traces its origins to the first Protestant services held in Fredericksburg by the Rev. Henry Basse in 1846. Members worshiped at the old Vereins Kirche until 1888 when Carl Priess gave this lot for a new building. The first portion of the structure was dedicated in 1893. The tower houses an original bell from the Vereins Kirche. In 1948-49 the building was remodeled and enlarged, and the congregation became Holy Ghost Lutheran Church.
The main mast of the USS Foote (DD-511) mounts the SC-1 air and surface search radar known as the “bedspring”.
Opened in 1949, the Park Theatre was the only commercial movie theatre in El Sobrante. It was owned and built by Dick Jeha, member of a prominent local family in the business community. More than just a movie house, the Park served for years as a site for live shows and civic and charitable events. Throughout the 1950s and 60s it was, in many ways, the hear of the town.
The large building at this site was the home of El Sobrante's first supermarket, which opened in 1951. Owned by the Louis Store chain, the store was re-named LoRay in 1965 when the business was bought by Loretta and Ray Dickenson. A portion of the building also housed housed Fowler's Variety Store owned by Logan and Mary Ellen Fowler. Adjacent to the right, El Sobrante's first Foster's Freeze, opened in 1950, giving way in 1961 to the Park Pharmacy building.
Here, following the base of San Pablo Ridge, ran the tracks of the California & Nevada Railroad. Incorporated in 1881, its founders had grand plans to run from Emeryville to Nevada. The line never got farther than Orinda. Until ending service in 1900, the narrow gauge railroad made money by hauling farm produce and running popular holiday excursions to picnic sites along San Pablo Creek. The never-realized town of Olinda was planned along the line, the name now memorialized by Olinda Road and Olinda Elementary School.
